The blue Kawasan Waterfalls, The Philippines

Panagsama Beach in Moalboal was much smaller and more chilled than we’d anticipated. A dirt track led close to the shore of a rocky beach and was lined with bars and restaurants. We hired out a motorbike to visit some sights in the area as it was cheaper to do this than get public transport.

Our first and main pitstop was Kawasan Waterfalls. I’d go as far to say they’re the most popular falls in the Phillys, and rightly so. Most people visit the falls on a canyoning trip but we were happy just walking around and jumping in the pools. It was a 20 minute walk along a crystal clear river, seriously clear though, like a San Pellegrino factory exploded and the river flowed with mineral water.

We finally got a glimpse of the main waterfall and hurried up our pace – it was stunning! The waterhole beneath the gushing fall was the bluest of blue colours. Locals offer bamboo rides across the water and under the falls so you can get a natural water massage. We used one of the platforms to jump into the water from…which was easier said than done as the bamboo was wet and extremely slippery. They had ropes tied to them so they could pull the rafts under the falls and on one jump I slipped with my foot going right under the rope and did a nasty belly flop – that was the end of that game!

We followed a trail up hill which led to numerous other falls and pools and we found a great one to jump from. It began to rain but it didn’t bother us as we were soaking wet anyway. The water was wonderfully refreshing.

After the falls we rode back north to White Beach, said to be a lovely stretch of beach 5km north of Moalboal and a nice alternative to stay at. We took the wrong road and ended up on a dirt track for a while and then back on a smooth road past hundreds of banana trees and coconut palms.

craig thought i was taking a cute couple photo haha, this is the wind funneling through my mouth!

The beach was disappointing. It was a huge expanse of sand but lots of rubbish was littered on it and a few groups of locals had set up tents on the sand and were drinking from a jumbo bottle of rum. It gave the place quite a seedy feel especially as it was early afternoon on a Tuesday. The sea was nice and clear but suffered from sharp rocks and coral past the sand so wasn’t the easiest to get in and out of.